By Jacob Sahms
So, I’m over a year late with this review, but every time I turn around, I hear John Mayer on the radio. With my apologies, I humbly present my review of Continuum….
“Waiting For The World To Change” screams for a HJ review, but I’m not completely sure what I want to do with it. It first strikes me as a protest song, but it seems both apathetic (tongue-in-cheek?) and demonstrative. Mayer sings, “it’s hard to beat the system/when we’re standing at a distance/So we keep waiting/waiting for the world to change.” Is the “at a distance” part of the equation self-imposed or mandated by age, race and social position? If the singer, and others, are just going to wait for the world to change, then that’s pretty pathetic! If he’s pointing out that it’s pathetic, then I’m all for it! (He also sings that “there’s no one up there,” and that could be interpreted in a myriad of ways: at God, at government, etc.) Later, he adds, “Now, if we had the power/to bring our neighbors home from war/they would have never missed Christmas.” That definitely sounds political!
Mayer metaphorically breaks in and out of the garden of his love, hoping to fall in love again in “I Don’t Trust Myself (With Loving You,)” a rhythmic, softly sensual ballad that seems more his comfort level. In “Belief,” Mayer is back to tackling the metaphysical, as he sings, “everyone believes/in how they think it ought to be/everyone believes/and they’re not going easily.” He’s back to protesting the war quickly, driving the chorus with “we’re never gonna turn the world/we’re never gonna stop the war/we’re never gonna beat this/if belief is all we’re fighting for.” Before you start jumping on Mayer for this one, ask yourself, what else could he mean? Does he mean that instead of ideals and strategies (and ownership of oil?) that we need to focus on the people, the relationships and the communities, if we want to stop war, hunger, poverty, etc.? I think that’s exactly what he means.
Other songs stand out, like “The Heart Of Life,” where Mayer’s hopefulness drives an upbeat melody, as “pain throws your heart to the ground/love turns the whole thing around/no it won’t all go the way it should/but I know the heart of life is good.” Whew, what a relief, there is hope here! Mayer takes awhile to get here, but he’s definitely not all sad sack and depression. Even when the “Vultures” seem to have dragged him down, he drives for higher ground, “I’ll come through like I do/when the world keeps testing me, testing me.”
“Stop The Train” is mournful and full of despair, as are many of the remaining songs. It’s as if Mayer needs the sadness to drive the songs, but deep down, he believes everything will be alright. While some may find Mayer too dragged down to benefit them, it seems that he’s just being honest. Some days you feel like a nut, some times you don’t: some days, the depression and hopelessness seem impossible to beat, until the ray of sunlight comes bursting in.
The beauty of Mayer’s Continuum is that he sees hope bursting through sadness and depression, even when it takes awhile.
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